Irish nose guard just wants to get healthy before deciding on whether to head for NFL

As revealed Tuesday, Louis Nix's ringtone is the Old Spice jingle. Notre Dame's nose guard then assured everyone it was chosen to be different, not a walking, chirping advertisement.

"Might be back here next year," Nix told reporters in South Bend, Ind. "Doesn't Notre Dame have perfume or cologne?"

It does, hilariously enough. How long Notre Dame has Nix remains a matter of coy evasion — he will graduate in December and technically could return for a fifth season — but in the present a battle with knee tendinitis and a torn meniscus will not prevent him from active duty.

After a two-week break following platelet-rich plasma therapy, Nix recorded 60-plus snaps in Saturday's setback at Pittsburgh, defusing the idea that he would sit to avoid further damage before NFL life began.

"Louis Nix is not a selfish guy," Nix said. "He's a guy who loves his brothers and teammates and coaches. Selfishly, I wanted to play for myself. It's hard being on the sideline and seeing guys play, and you wish you could be making plays they're making."

Nix is also a hurting guy, still. The tendinitis has bothered him since the national title game in January, he said, and flared up during the USC game Oct. 19.

"It's something that bothers me all the time," Nix said. "Sometimes you can't even sit in class. You have to stand up because your knee can't be at a 90-degree angle. So I randomly stand up in class or I'm kicking and stuff and people are looking at me. It was a problem, I'm glad we got it taken care of, I'm feeling a lot better."

As for feelings on a final year of eligibility few expect Nix to use?

"I love this place," Nix said. "Who wouldn't you want to come back for a fifth year at Notre Dame? It's something to look at. Who knows. We'll see."

Triage report: Irish coach Brian Kelly told reporters Tuesday that he hopes linebacker Ishaq Williams (ACL injury) can play Nov. 23 against BYU even if he's not 100 percent. Center Nick Martin has a fracture at the knuckle on his snapping hand but Kelly said "we think he can make it work" with a cast.

Off week: In what he said is a first, Kelly won't have an off-week practice with a banged-up Irish group.

"We could have a situation of diminished returns and put us in jeopardy, so we're conditioning them pretty hard Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday," Kelly said.